Ireland has the perfect climate for fast growing willows, commonly known as sallys in English and in Irish, 'saileach'. The sallys enjoy our wet weather, especially when they are teamed with a growing location such as a bog, marsh or riverbank.

Conditions such as this have contributed to the development of our four native willows, which are:

The goat willow (Salix caprea) 10m tall by 8m wide, Grey willow (Salix atrocinerea) 10m tall by 8m wide, Bay willow (Salix pentandra) 10m tall by 10m wide, and the Eared Willow (Salix aurita) 2.5m tall.

Even though these willows are deciduous, they are among the earliest trees to leaf out and one of the last to lose their leaves in autumn, ensuring a comfortably short leafless spell. The leaves of our native willows are between five and twelve centimetres long and from three to eight centimetres wide, with the goat willows leaves broader than the other willows at eight centimetres wide. Its leaves are also an oval shape, greyish green with an interesting fleece-like underside.

At the opposite end of the scale is our bay willow (Salix pentandra). Its leaves instead are glossy dark green, two to five centimetres wide, with a fine serrated edge. The bay willow received its common name due to its leaves' resemblance to those of the bay laurel. Interestingly, like the laurel, its dried leaves also have an aromatic scent, which allows them to be used in the preparation of potpourri.

Many of our willows grow rapidly under good conditions, quickly producing multitudes of soft and flexible, woody stems, ideal for the traditional wood weaving craft of wickerwork. Our original 'flexible friend', these willow stems have been, and still are, used to create baskets, rugs and fences. The cut stems have more recently been pressed into action through the creation of decorative landscape and garden sculptures.

The flower of the willow, the catkin, arriving from March to April, is truly a wondrous bloom. Not because of the claim that the distilled flower water is an aphrodisiac, but because of the visual and tactile beauty of the bloom.

It emerges firstly, resembling and feeling like a fluffy kittens paw. The pussy willow's flower then opens to display showy fine yellow hairs (anthers). These are welcome early colour providers, which are a vital aid to the plants pollination and subsequent seed production.

Produced in May or June, the willow's seeds are extremely light and so can travel long distances by wind or water. Within a few years, germinated seeds grow quickly from seedlings to fully-fledged trees with an extensive ground stabilising root system (remember riverbanks).

If you are thinking about planting a native willow, their preferred soil is heavy and damp, situated in a location with good access to sunlight. Given a fair supply of moisture, these natives will battle through city pollution and seaside exposure. Although tolerating slightly limey soils, they tend to grow better in acid to neutral ground.

At one point in time the television adverts used to tell us that the credit card was our flexible friend. Well maybe now it's time that our willows once again took back this name. You can help the cause by planting one of these natives today.

Until next week, happy gardening and remember that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.

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